Along with an increased concern about the purity and potability of municipally provided water supplies has come an increased use of bottled water services provided commercially. The commercially provided water is said to be purer and better tasting than what comes out of the tap in many localities.
Generally, the commercial water purveyors supply the subscriber with some type of dispensing apparatus such as the familiar water cooler that can now be found in countless offices and homes. Bottled water is usually provided in large plastic bottle-type containers that hold about five gallons and weigh roughly 42 pounds.
Even for a strong, healthy adult, the act of lifting a bulky and heavy water bottle from floor level and inverting it at a height of about four feet above the floor into position on top of a water cooler presents certain problems. Careless or improper lifting techniques may produce hernias or back injuries or exacerbate already existing ones. Spilling water in the process of inverting and positioning the water bottle is also commonplace because of the size and weight of the conventional water bottle.
For a child or a weak adult the task of refilling a water cooler may present a well nigh insurmountable problem. It would be a great boon to that segment of the bottled water consuming public consisting of the young, the elderly, or the less robust if there existed a stackable water dispenser bottle that was lighter in weight and easier to handle than the water bottles conventionally employed. Previous attempts to solve the above-mentioned problems have not yielded a completely satisfactory solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,207 to Cullis discloses a bottled water container of the type in which the container is supported upon the water cooler for selective removal and replacement, the container having a handle straddling a recess located in the body of the container at the intersection of the side and upper end walls thereof and bridging a gap created by the recess in the peripheral edge along the intersection of the side and upper end walls of the container. The purpose of the handle is to facilitate lifting, upending, and placement of the container in proper position in the water cooler. The handle is hollow and molded separate from the body of the container and is integrated with the body such that the interior of the handle is isolated from the interior of the container body so that the interior of the container can be readily cleaned to enable reuse of the bottled water container. The container disclosed, however, has a conventional size and weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,955 to Schieser et al. is directed to a large lightweight plastic bottle of rectangular or square transverse cross section with spaced reinforcing ribs or bands extending therearound. Opposed flat faces or sides of each bottle are provided with a square locking projection and a complementary receiving socket, respectively, so that a plurality of such bottles can be stacked on their sides with the projections and sockets of adjacent sides interfitted to keep the bottles in alignment in the stack and with the reinforcing ribs superimposed for strength. The water bottle disclosed, however, has a conventional shape and size.
The patents listed directed below may have some relevance to the invention disclosed in the specification, claims, and drawing which follow.
______________________________________ Patent Number Name of Inventor Date Issued ______________________________________ 282,974 G. S. Fairchild Aug. 14, 1883 302,565 L. S. Hoyt July 29, 1884 571,430 S. Costello Nov. 17, 1896 587,895 C. B. White Aug. 10, 1897 591,280 E. Junker Oct. 5, 1897 596,746 W. H. Fulcher Jan. 4, 1898 598,782 F. Hill Feb. 8, 1898 3,323,668 D. G. Hills June 6, 1967 3,391,824 A. P. J. Wiseman July 9, 1968 3,631,974 R. B. Schaefer et al. Jan. 4, 1972 4,513,865 E. R. Melzi Apr. 30, 1985 ______________________________________
None of the prior-art references described or mentioned above discloses the stackable, lightweight water dispenser bottle of the present invention, which provides various improvements and advantages over the prior art.